Once the fifth-largest port in the world, Busan Port handled over three-quarters of the nation’s import and export goods. However, the port is currently experiencing a crisis. This is due to the decision made by the new shipping alliance Gemini, which is set to be formed in February of next year by Denmark’s AP Moller-Maersk (Maersk) (2nd) and Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd (5th), to omit Busan Port and Kaohsiung Port Taiwan as its major hub ports on the Asia-Europe route.

During the World War II period, shipbuilding rose into one of the most critical sectors for most countries in continental Europe and the U.S. In these regions, shipyards represented the backbone of waterfront businesses, providing a lifeline for many coastal communities. But despite that demand for construction of new vessels is still high, shipbuilding in the West has hit an inflection point. Overall, shipbuilding production has fallen to historic lows, a case in point being the U.S where shipyards capable of building large vessels have declined by more than 80 percent since the 1970s.